


Will Escape for Non-Base Food

by taibhrigh



Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-09
Updated: 2011-06-09
Packaged: 2017-10-20 06:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/209897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cougar and Jensen stuck on base with a steak house just a few miles away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Will Escape for Non-Base Food

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Siluria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/siluria) for the beta.
> 
> This was written for smallfandomfest #9 on LJ.

It had started as a typical day of downtime. Stuck on base for the first few hours until Clay could get them all a three-day pass. That's when it had started to go down hill. Clay had been called into a series of meetings and reviews. He wasn't going anywhere and added to that was the fact that Clay may or may not have slept with the base commander's sister.

Jake wasn't sure of the true nature of those events but things between Clay and Commander Harold had been so frosty they could have all been assigned to the polar ice cap and then been conveniently forgotten about.

What it boiled down to was that the man wasn't going to let them all leave the base. Not even with Clay's ability to haggle. Nope. Two three-day passes. You do the math. Five man team, one already stuck on base doing bureaucracy grunt work that leaves four for the two passes.

Roque had stormed up to Clay grabbed one of the passes and had been out the door before anyone could tackle the big man. It had been completely unfair.

He had a niece. Pooch had a wife. Jake always took Cougar home with him, and Jen and Becca would be really mad at him if he came home without Uncle Cougar. Therefore, by default, Pooch got the other pass. Though, Jake had to admit that a pissed off sister and niece was nothing compared to a pissed off Jolene. Jake liked his bits where they were and plus, Jolene would send them cookies. She always sent cookies back. Yummy, delicious chocolate chip pecan cookies.

"You are drooling," came the whisper soft observation.

"Cookies," he answered.

There was a soft knowing chuckle from beside him.

"We are sneaking off this damn base," he rolled onto his back, leaving his laptop to one side by his head and then lolled his head to the right to stare at Cougar. "Even if all we do is go to the steak place a few miles from here. The have that _Chocolate Cookie Avalanche Ice Cream_ thing and those homemade potato chips you love so much."

Cougar put the cleaning rag down as he sighted through the open cylinder of the revolver, clicking to check each chamber. "You could just have it delivered."

Jake rolled his eyes. Nope, no Cougar logic allowed. Besides, and he shook his head before speaking, "Melty ice cream and cold chips. Ick."

Cougar tilted his head and Jake grinned as the other man acknowledged that he did have a point.

He rolled back to his stomach and looked under his bed, grinning as he grasped the handle of a large trunk and pulled it out from under the bed. Jake righted himself and popped the locks on the trunk before shifting stuff around so he could pull out a small-ish Pelican Case that was buried halfway down.

"Gotcha!"

"What's in the box?"

Jake looked up at Cougar and gave him a mischievous little grin. Cougar gave him look number four. The one that said, _answer the question Jake or I will not help you with whatever you plan to do_. It was not to be confused with looks number three or five, which were either the simply _not helping you_ look or the _tell me or I tell your sister about X_ look.

"It's umm, something we're not telling Clay I have," he said real fast. "We're not telling anyone I have it. Let's say it was built from borrowed plans and it doesn't exist. Shouldn't exist. But I built it anyway."

Cougar raised a single eyebrow in question but otherwise didn't comment.

"You'll see," Jake continued. "But you can't tell anyone. Not that anyone would believe you anyway. Because, you know, doesn't exist and shouldn't even work if it did. But genius here."

Cougar snorted.

Jake grinned again. That was Cougar's snort of amusement. The one that signaled he was in.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Twenty minutes later found them lying on their stomachs on the roof across from Commander Harold's office. The items from the Pelican Case were spread out in front of Jake, and Cougar had no idea what they did so Jake really had nothing to worry about on that front.

There were two items that looked like they may have been screens from smartphones, a small mat keyboard that looked a little like a wave because it had been rolled up, and then there was something that looked like a small palm-sized satellite dish.

Jake connected a couple of wires, placed the little dish on the ledge above them, muttered about angles, and then moved the dish twice before moving himself and all the gadgets about three feet to the right.

Cougar scooted over with him and waited. He didn't have long too wait before both screens flicked to life and Jake started his rapid fire typing. The one screen showed what Cougar knew as Jake's computer language and ignored it. Jake would let him know if there was something he needed to read.

On the second screen, Cougar could see into the office and realized the view was picking up changes in temperatures. Just enough to outline the people and some of the furniture. He glanced from the equipment to Jake and back again and not for the first time wondered exactly what was meant when Jake said _never finished college_ and he also had to wonder why Jake hadn't wanted to stay in TechOps.

As if reading his mind, Jake said, "They were boring. Desks. No fun. No challenge. And seriously, can you see me only sitting in some cubbyhole somewhere? I'd be climbing the walls after a day or so. Actually climbing the walls."

With the way Jake had said the last part Cougar wouldn't have put it past his friend to have tried to climb a wall in a room full of office cubicles. Jake glanced his way for a second and grinned before moving the little dish again and humming in approval.

"Got it."

Cougar hadn't known there would be sound until he heard Clay, Commander Harold, and an unknown voice talking.

"Gentlemen," Harold's static sounded voice cam over the tiny speaker. "We're not leaving here until we get through the reports and then we'll see if Lt. Colonel Clay's team is appropriate for this mission." The last part was said a little snidely.

"I think Clay needs to stop sleeping with anyone related to base commanders or anyone else who can send us to shitty places."

Cougar had to agree with that comment. "Si," he said softly.

Jake spent another couple of minutes typing and then started to tear the equipment down.

"We're good." And Cougar could almost feel Jake bouncing with excitement even though the other man's appearance was cool and collected.

"Explain."

"For the next eight hours they think you've dragged me out to the sniper range to do snipery things. We just need to go to that old range on the south side, sign in with the guy on duty, setup a few targets, and take a few shots from wherever you think best. Then we stow our gear and go through the woods and over the fence."

Cougar grabbed Jake's wrist as he was packing the little dish away.

"Oh," Jake said, seeming to realize he'd left out a few things. "Cameras set to cover our visual tracks and I know the patrol schedule."

Cougar grinned and nodded. He could already taste the steak and chips and the cold beer.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

An hour after the sun had fully set and the moon was just starting to peek out through the clouds they both easily hopped over the fence and jogged back to their gear. They'd started with a beer each and kept it to two before switching to water. Large, medium--nicely pink steak, fresh chips and baked bread with butter, and even Cougar had caved and gone for a dessert as well.

They'd had time to play a few games of pool. Though they were evenly matched as they both knew about angles, trajectory, and force but that was what made the game enjoyable for them.

Cougar picked up the borrowed sniper riffle and quickly fired into the target that was set up five hundred yards down range. The first shot was dead center; of the next two, only one hit the paper while the other hit the stand.

Jake glanced through the scope of the second rifle. "Let me guess, those last two were supposed to be me?"

"Si."

"Figures."

They both grabbed up their kits and moved to the next position and waited twenty minutes. This time Jake actually fired his own rifle. The shot was not center but he had a hit.

They waited a few minutes and then moved again. They repeated this for another hour until they both heard a vehicle coming. The horn blared twice, paused and blared again.

Jake took his flashlight and flipped it on and off while pointed at the jeep and then quietly followed Cougar on the path toward the jeep. They popped out of the tall grass behind Clay.

Cougar was being sneaky and Jake whole-heartedly agreed with the actions. Which explained his exclaimed. "Boo!"

"Get in the truck," Clay said gruffly. "Roque and Pooch have been recalled early. We're going to Brazil. "

Cougar and Jake looked at each other then bumped fists, agreeing that their little escape had been well planned and timed, as food on the mission would be MREs. They were grinning as Clay spun the truck around and drove back to the barracks.


End file.
